The Child of the Mansion
by kelseyphantomgirl
Summary: Little Teresa always wanted a family to call her own, so she escaped the orphanage to Disneyland where she comes upon a mansion. Not knowing that it was haunted, goes inside and meets the Ghost Host that actually softens to the child, taking her on a tour of the mansion. The child then decides that she might want to stay. But how will the ghosts hide her from mortals?
1. Chapter 1: Welcome, Young One

A little girl; around 6, in a simple cotton gown, ran for cover if anybody saw her. Why was she hiding? Well, she escaped from an orphanage not to far away from where she was now: Disneyland. It was dark and everyone from the park, including all of the cast members, went home and all the attractions closed for the night. This made it perfect for an escape. The little girl wanted a family and Disneyland was the place where dreams came true, so she decided she would try to find a family to call her own. She didn't know that it was an amusement park. All she knew was that it was like a heaven.

In the bushes, she wondered why nobody was there. _Maybe everyone went to bed. _She finally stepped out of the bushes and saw an old mansion across the road. She thought that somebody actually lived there and maybe she could find a home there. It certainly looked like a nice place to live. But, she didn't notice gravestones on either side of the house. Also, she didn't know that inside lived animatronic figures of ghosts and scary scenes of a haunted house. As quickly as her little legs could carry her, the child went across the street and onto the porch of the house. Being little, it took a few seconds to get the door open. Peering inside, it was pitch black, but she entered anyway, thinking that the lights would be on inside. But she was wrong. Everything was pitch black and she saw nothing. She was about to go back outside, when the door slammed on her. That made her jump and she ran to the door to try and pry it open. It was locked!

She tried and tried again at opening the door, but she was trapped! To make matters worse, she heard loud claps of thunder and lightning which the sounds echoed through the room. The child slumped down to the floor, wrapping her arms around her legs and silently started to cry.

"Sombody...Anybody..Get me out of here," the child cried.

As she sat there, she thought that she would never get help and wondered if she'd see the light of day again. But, she didn't know that in this dusty, old mansion, that she wasn't alone at all.

A disembodied voice filled the room, his voice had certain smooth creepiness to it, but it also was gentle, acknowledging that the child was there in the room.

_"Welcome to the Haunted Mansion. Who might you be, little one?"_

Hearing the voice made the child tremble in fear, but lifted her head slightly to look and see who had been talking. As she did so, a small chandelier on the ceiling lit up the room by itself, like the disembodied voice made that happen.

The voice spoke again, _"Don't be frightened, young one. Come to the center of the room so I can see you better. Don't be shy." _

The child managed to go slowly to the center of the room. In doing so, she still trembled, too scared to talk.

"_There you are. Now, let me introduce myself. I am the Ghost Host. I see that you are frightened to death. Poor child... Now, may I ask, why have you come to the mansion?"_

The little girl finally spoke, stuttering, "I-I was looking for a family to call my own. You see, I ran away from an orphanage and I came to this place in hopes of finding a home. I-I didn't know..."

The Ghost Host sympathized, "_Oh, dear. It's quite alright...What is your name?"_

"T-Teresa. That's the only name I have." (Tear-ay-suh)

"_Ah, my dear Teresa...Well, since you are here, maybe you could spend the night here. I'm sure some of our ghostly residents wouldn't mind."_

Teresa gulped, getting a small chill up her back, "G-Ghosts?"

_"Aw..Don't be frightened about that. They are still people, just..a bit different. Now, come with me. Let's find you a suitable place to rest."_

The child nodded as the doors in front of her opened and she walked into some sort of room that had paintings of people on the walls, while gargoyle candle holders lit the room. Teresa's heart still raced at the feeling of this place being haunted. She then felt a cold pair of hands on her shoulders. She gasped at this.

_"Do not be frightened, young one. It is just me."_

Teresa turned her head to see nothing was there, "W-Where are you?"

_"Oh. My mortal state is a much unfortunate sight. Probably too gruesome for child's eyes...But if you must know..."_

With a flash of lightning, the room went dark and Teresa looked up to see that a noose had been hanging from the ceiling, a man's skeleton dangling in misfortune as the rope was tied around his neck. At an instant, the lights came back on.

The child whimpered as she saw this.

The Ghost Host felt guilty of this, _"I didn't mean to frighten you, dear. My apologies."_

As he said this, Teresa felt cold arms envelope her and a cold kiss of lips on her forehead. The child said nothing as she tried to hug him back, but she couldn't see him.

Then, the walls and the portraits started to stretch! Actually, the room was stretching! It was getting longer! The portraits expanded to reveal a girl on a tightrope that was a few inches away from being chomped on my a crocodile. Another was a man standing on a barrel of dynamite. Another was an elderly woman sitting on a tombstone of her husbands, and the last portrait had three men stacked on each other while the one at the very bottom was drowning in quick sand.

"_Is this room actually stretching?" The Ghost Host cackled lightly, "Or is it your imagination? And as you can see, this chamber has no windows..and no doors."_

"I-I don't know the difference," the child said, intrigued and a bit terrified at the same time.

The Ghost Host laughed lightly, "_Neither can I. This is probably why I came to the mansion in the first place. I'm only one of 999 happy haunts to retire here."_

"999 ghosts?" Teresa shivered.

_"Yes, Teresa. But most of them are friendly. But I'll make sure they know that you are very sensitive. They will probably know that anyway by how young you are...Now, come along. I will guide you through the mansion first. That may assure you that this place is not a scary place as it seems to be, even though our jobs are to scare mortals when they come here to tour here."_

Exiting down a corridor, the two walked past a few paintings that when the lightning flashed, they turned into corrupted corpses. That made the child jump a bit, but she kept walking. The Ghost Host followed behind her. Even though the child could not see him, she could feel his presence, which felt reassuring at times when another clap of thunder and lightning echoed through the hall. They eventually came to a loading platform where the ride vehicles, which were called _Doom Buggies _sat silently since the ride had closed for the night.

"_Climb into one of those transportation vehicles. It's an easier way to get around in the mansion if you aren't 'dead'. Now, I won't leave your side. Some things will frighten you, I understand that completely, but you must try to contain your fear."_

Teresa nodded slowly before taking a deep breath while climbing into one of the _Doom Buggies._

"Th-There's no turning back now, right?" asked the child a bit nervous as the Ghost Host turned back on the system of cars and pulled down the lap bar on her car.

_The Ghost Host chuckled, " You'll be fine. If not, I don't really know what to think, me being dead and all."_

He tried to put at least a little smile on her face, which it worked. Even when she couldn't see her Ghost Host, she knew he was grinning from ear to ear. But now, it was time to go through the mansion. The Doom Buggy lurched forward and it slowly made its way to the endless hallway. The child's eyes grew large as she saw a candelabra floating down the hall!

"Who's that?" asked the child to her Host.

"_Ah. That is my good friend Doris. She keeps check on the rooms down there. Well..she has for all eternity. Say hello to our young guest, Doris."_

The candelabra waved back and forth and a woman's voice was heard, "Hello, dear! Oh, and hello, Host!"

_"We must be on our way, Doris, but keep at it!" _The Host laughed lightly.

"I certainly will!" Doris called as her voice echoed while the candelabra walked back down the hallway.

The Ghost Host chuckled as the tour continued, the Doom Buggy turning toward a group of withering flowers, in the center laid a coffin. A creak was heard as a pair of skeleton hands held the top of the coffin, trying to get out. On the side, perched near the coffin, a small black raven cawed while his red eyes glowed. Teresa gasped at the sight of the coffin. The Ghost Host noticed this.

_"Don't be alarmed, my dear. He's been trying to get out of that thing for decades. Nobody bothers to help him get out. Sooner or later his bony fingers could get chopped off by that..."_

Just then, a voice came from the coffin, "Hey, Host! Get me out of here! I've been stuck here for ages and my bones will break if I'm not out soon!"

_"I cannot allow that, Reginald. If the mortals saw you of your coffin, I'm sure they'll notice the difference because they tour this place all the time. So the answer is no."_

The skeleton in the coffin, Reginald, sighed, "I wouldn't want that...Nevermind. I'll just keep doing this for another decade, then."

_"Carry on."_ The Host said as the Buggy kept going foreword.


	2. Chapter 2: A Ghostly Encounter

Moving on, the two entered a corridor filled with doors. Sounds of screaming, pounding, and manacle laughter were to be heard while the doors shook, dying to open. A door even seemed to be breathing!

_"Some of our guest have trouble getting through,"_The Ghost Host laughed rather sinister, which the little girl didn't mind because shivers were already down her spine from the spine tingling screams. Going forward, a wall of paintings hung, including a large painting of a skinny man with a long face. He had white long hair, pale green skin, and one eye was bigger than the other. His nose was long and pointed and he had a mischievous grin like he did something horrible. This painting clearly showed this, because he had a rope tied around his neck, holding the end of it in his fist. In his other hand, he held an ax. His clothing consisted of a white shirt underneath a lavender vest. Over that, he wore a green coat and he wore blue pinstriped pants. But this particular person seemed vaguely familiar...

"Host, is that...you?" asked the child, staring at the picture.

"_Yes, my dear. That's what I look like now. You can't see me, so now you know what I do look like,"_ The Host said.

As the tour went on, they passed a demonic grandfather clock that had 13 hours on it instead of 12. After that, they entered the séance room where a woman's head in a crystal ball was reading spells and instruments floated around.

"Serpents and spiders, tail of a rat. Call in the spirits, wherever they're at," the woman incanted.

_"Ah, Madame Leota. Still incanting I see," _The Ghost Host implied.

Leota stopped incanting and smiled at the two, "Host, who is this? The park closed an hour ago, so why do you carry a young mortal with you?"

_"She is an orphan that has been looking for a home. She escaped the orphanage and came here, unknowing this place was filled with spirits. It's quite a long story."_

"I see," Leota said, "Well, feel free to stop by once you get a chance."

"C_ertainly, Madame. We better get going before the little one falls asleep."_

The child managed to say, "Goodbye, Leota."

The head in the crystal smiled and nodded as the Doom Buggy carried on. It now entered on a balcony overlooking an old fashioned ballroom. A long table was set and different ghosts were sitting at it, watching a ghost girl blow out candles on a birthday cake. Over to the left, a few ghostly couples in fancy attire waltzed around the room to an off key song played by a ghost on an organ at the far end of the room. On the ceiling, a large chandelier with cob webs hung, while a couple of ghost sat on top of it.

Teresa could not believe her eyes! Real ghosts! The thing that really shocked her was that they were doing things that humans would do: They would party!

A few ghosts saw the Doom Buggy come in and they looked at the little girl with confusion. But their expressions came into smiles and grins. Some even waved at her.

All Teresa did was smile back at them, a little scared, but not that much.

_"Would you like to say hello, dear-"_

"HEY! I KNOW YOU'RE IN HERE! YOU ARE IN BIG TROUBLE!"

All the ghosts froze and all the music stopped.

The Ghost Host gasped and whispered into the girl's ear, "_It's the security guards! Run, Teresa! Don't let them find you! I'll distract them!"_

The child was about to protest, but the Ghost Host said a final, "_Go!"_

Teresa ran out of the Doom Buggy as fast as she could. All she could do was follow the tracks of the vehicles. She could hear running footsteps getting louder and louder. Eventually, she spotted a security guard with a flashlight a few meters away.

"Get back here!" he barked. As Teresa kept running, she was loosing strength. She tripped over the tracks on the floor and fell off the balcony railing! With a gasp, the child fell flat on the floor, motionless. The guard gasped and ran down to where she laid. At an instant he saw blood on her dress, he knew she was dead.

* * *

The child groaned as she slowly opened her eye lids. Opening them, she saw that she was resting on a dark purple velvet lounge chair. She tried to move, but she winced as pain filled her abdomen. Her body then felt..weightless. She looked around the room to see that she was in a library filled with books to the brim while a fireplace sat in the center of the room. She could barely make out a figure a few inches away, standing right near a bookcase. It looked as though it was looking at her. When her eyes finally did get clear, she couldn't believe her eyes. Standing there stood the tall figure in the green coat with a rope wrapped around his neck. It was the Ghost Host.

He smiled at her compassionately and walked to her, crouching down beside the chair. The child was not afraid of his appearance because she saw the painting of him in one of the corridors.

"H-Host?" the child said weakly.

He shushed her and put a finger to the girl's lips, his own voice the same but it did not echo, "Do not speak. You still need to recover from the fall. You need to get used to being a spirit now. Still in a bit of pain?"

Teresa nodded a little bit before wincing again, "W-What do you mean 'getting used to being a-'"

She then stopped, finally realizing that she was in fact, dead. The Host looked at her with a sympathetic face.

"But..that means that I...can stay here?" the child asked.

He nodded and smiled gently at her, "Yes. You can. We just have to keep you hidden during the day, or else the mortals will question about a new update on the mansion."

"Does that mean that you can be my..." Teresa felt nervous to say the rest. She pretended not to meet his eyes.

The Ghost Host kissed her on the forehead, which she felt that same cool touch as before, "Of course, my dear. Now get some rest. I don't want you to be tired to death. But that has happened before to a resident..."

The ghost child nodded and positioned herself on the lounge to sleep. The Host had a blanket next to the chair, which he gently laid it on the child. Teresa's eyes slowly closed, her body slowly going up and down as she breathed peacefully. The Ghost Host smiled to himself as he went over to another chair and read a book for awhile, glancing over his book to see Teresa still sound asleep. He soon fell asleep in the chair. Well, spirits do need their _rest in peace_, otherwise they would be _dead_ tired.


	3. Chapter 3: Awakening

**Don't worry! I didn't forget about you special people! I love this story... :)**

* * *

"Teresa, my dear. Wake up. The mortals will be arriving at any minute," The Ghost Host whispered.

Teresa, meanwhile, slowly opened her eyes, her mind thinking back to last night and at that moment, it finally sank in. When she realized this, her body started to float downward and through the lounge chair she slept on. She ended up on the floor with a soft _'thud.' _She registered what had just happened and stood up, and tried to steady herself so she wouldn't be sinking through the ground. The pain Teresa felt last night had subsided, thankfully, but she would have to get used to being in her new form as a ghost.

The Host was a bit worried himself, wondering how to keep her hidden and not have her in pain from the transformation, at the same time. Of course this was a new feeling for the Ghost Host because of the fact that he has never had any experience with taking care of a child while trying to do his work. But, the experiences he does have with mortal children kind of told why he was gentle with Teresa. The mortal children would be scared the first half of the ride, but by the end, they are smiling as they see the singing, funny ghost inhabitants in the graveyard.

The two ghosts stood there in the library, Teresa looking at the fireplace that had only coals left of the warm fire from last night.

"Before the mortals arrive, why don't you relax a bit. You've had a long night," The Host smiled, showing some of his crooked teeth. They weren't all crooked, but a few were just a smidge noticeable. The six year old nodded and looked back at the bookshelves that surrounded the room.

The Host put on a smile before leaving the room, "I'll be back in 15 minutes to come and get you. The mansion opens at that time."

"Okay, Host," the child said playfully, like a child would usually approach the agreement of getting ice cream before dinner time.

With that, the older ghost left the room in a cloud of mist. When Teresa saw that he was gone, she set her mind back to what has happened to her in the mansion. Her mind was filled with questions, but very few answers came to mind, so she decided to leave that for another time. Looking at the bookshelves, she found a book about almost the same size as her entire body. It was hard to miss by how huge it was and the fact that it was a dark violet color with a thick purple bookmark hanging out the binding of the book.

Teresa budged to get the book off the shelf with a few tries, and eventually the book fell heavy in her transparent hands. At least ghosts could hold onto objects..at least that's what some thought. Bringing the book to a small wooden table, she carefully set it down, so it wouldn't make a loud bang if she were to drop it. Looking at the cover, Teresa read, _"Phantom Manor."_ She tried to find the author of the book, but she couldn't find any resemblance to a writer or when it was published. Only the title was given. She was confused by this, but shook the question from her mind as she opened the book to the first page. Just then, an unexpected thing happened: Teresa disappeared without a trace. Only the book remained on the table.


End file.
